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Monthly Archive September, 2007

A watercannon full of diarrhea

Start Throwing Up And Never Stop Day!

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George W. Bush: a papercraft portrait

George W. Bush: a papercraft portrait

Designed by a couple of clever Italianos. They also have a nice German Pope for your enjoyment. (via)

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HTTP Errors Poster

Adam Koford’s genius HTTP Errors series, lovingly compiled under Creative Commons license into a poster.

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Voriconazole Makes You See Chewbacca

Without even hearing him enter, I first knew his presence by his soft, sweet breath on my cheek. Then the slow drip, drip of saliva as he waited, open-mouthed, for me to open my eyes. As I did so, a shudder went through his body from the excitement he felt at my awakening. Thank God that nasty rash is gone.

Thanks Voriconazole!

Sign Me Up!: Antifungal Medication Makes You See Chewbacca

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Successful lawn mower repair

Last Sunday I went to mow the back yard and the recoil starter cable broke. I wish I had known at the time how easy it was going to be to fix, I would have done it right there and finished mowing. Instead, I had a nice dinner with my family and did a little research on the problem.

I first found a repair forum thread called Broken Pull Cord on Gas Mower. It shocked me to see the wide range of opinions on this repair. It sounds to me after doing mine that some mowers have incredibly strong springs in the recoil spool. The spring on my 8 yr. old Craftsman was not too strong for me to hold in place with one finger while I re-threaded the cord. I guess with some mowers, you might really risk hurting your hands.

This description of the repair helped me psych myself up to take care of it without further ado. I also found enough pages of a Briggs and Stratton repair guide on Google Books that I felt like I could be successful (my Craftsman model has a 6.5 hp B&G engine). I pretty much just followed the directions from the repair manual. As it turned out, the cord had broken just a couple inches from the end. I didn’t even have to buy a new cord. All it took was a clean cut of the cord, a little melting, winding up the spool, and re-threading the cord. Nice.

I think the best part of home ownership for me has been these experiences where things break and I am able to fix them. Never been more proud of myself than being able to save some money by relying on my own brain and patience.

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There was poop coming out of a hole in my basement.

I read this post at Curbly when we were in the process of purchasing our home. Didn’t scare me one bit. Scares me a bit now.

Plumbing of age: what every first-time homeowner should know about the sewer system

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A Soviet Poster A Day

2004.jpg

Blog: A Soviet Poster A Day

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Texas General Land Office takes bids on offshore wind leases

This article points to a promising development in alternative energy production. Texas offers many opportunities for the production of alternative energy: big open land, lots of sunshine, lots of consumers. Now the fact that Texas fully controls it’s offshore waters may simplify the process for wind energy producers to harness offshore winds. I like this bit from the article:

Harold Schoeffler, one of the directors of Wind Energy Systems Technologies, said the company is not worried about the projects being profitable, especially because it has saved money by using existing or recycled oil platforms as the base for the wind turbines.

Re-using old infrastructure is a great move! The article also talks about both the pros and the cons of offshore wind production, like hurricanes and the overall cost of equipment.

Texas taking bids on offshore wind leases | Dallas Morning News

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DIY Clock Roundup

For some time I’ve wanted to make a clock out of kitchen items. I figure the clockworks from a thrift store clock could be combined with some other parts to make something quite nice. Here are some other diy clocks and clock ideas for inspiration.

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Three Smashing Pumpkins’ tracks on Fluxblog

Matt on Fluxblog has an interesting take on new Pumpkins v. old Pumpkins and resetting expectations so the new can be enjoyed. Man, they used to RAWK!

The Disappointed Disappear Like They Were Never Here

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